UKIP’s spokesperson on Economic Affairs and Women’s Issues has been criticised for saying that it is ‘received wisdom’ for employers to avoid hiring women of childbearing years.

Godfrey Bloom, a UKIP MEP, told BBC Radio Five Live that it was “perfectly straightforward small business policy” to consider a woman’s age when employing new workers. He said employers were frightened of “draconian employment legislation” which gave women too many rights.

HR experts and small businesses criticised his comments and said they were ‘anachronistic’ and that it would harm business to exclude women from the workforce.